Overview

The Mercedes-Benz E-class is synonymous with luxury and comfort. Whether you opt for the four-door sedan, two-door coupe, or two-door convertible, you’ll be treated to a velvety, creamy, buttery, and smooth ride. And with a plethora of options available, you can customize your car to your heart’s content. Under the hood, you have a choice between the E350 sedan’s 255-hp inline-four or the E450 sedan’s 362-hp version of Mercedes’s silky 3.0-liter inline-six. The coupe and convertible only come in the E450, six-cylinder form. The E-class is packed with luxury features, from a glove-compartment cool box to a power-adjustable steering column. However, some standard features, like leather upholstery and advanced driver assists, are optional. If you’re looking for a speed demon, check out the AMG E53. But if you want a beautifully crafted luxury car with a rich history, the E-class is the way to go.

What’s New for 2023?

The Mercedes-Benz E-class lineup for 2023 gets a little upgrade with some added goodies. Now, you don’t have to pay extra for non-Manufaktur metallic paint options as they come included in the base price.

Pricing and Which One to Buy

We recommend the sedan body style and advocate for the E450 trim, with its potent six-cylinder powertrain and standard 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. It comes standard with blind-spot monitoring, a fully digital dashboard, heated front seats with memory settings, an infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and passive entry. To that we’d add the optional air suspension, head-up display, heated steering wheel, multi-contour front seats with massage functions, and ventilated front-seat cushions.

Engine, Transmission, and Performance

Each E-class comes equipped with a well-behaved nine-speed automatic transmission that works alongside three different engines. The E350 boasts a turbocharged four-cylinder engine that delivers 255 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. It can be paired with either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. On the other hand, the E450 models are powered by a turbocharged inline-six-cylinder engine with a 48-volt hybrid system that also acts as an electric supercharger. This impressive setup sends 362 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque to the wheels. The distribution of power to the wheels depends on the body style: E350 sedans are available with either rear-wheel drive or Mercedes’s 4Matic all-wheel drive system, while the E450 sedan is exclusively equipped with all-wheel drive.

The E450 coupe and cabriolet (convertible) come with either rear-drive or 4Matic all-wheel drive. Because the E-class is more focused on comfort, its handling is capable but not particularly sporty. It does tilt a bit in corners, but it doesn’t feel too strained when pushed to its limits. When equipped with the optional air suspension set to Comfort mode, the ride is smooth and the E-class is ideal for devouring long stretches of road. It effortlessly glides over bumps and potholes, with only a subtle hint of these imperfections reaching the cabin. When you set the drive-mode selector to Comfort or Eco, the steering feels just right—not too light, not too heavy—and it’s spot-on accurate. On the freeway, the E-class stays on track with a confident and predictable demeanor, and you won’t get much feedback from the road. However, the E450 we put to the test took a whopping 187 feet to come to a stop from 70 mph.

Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG

In 2023, the E350 with a four-cylinder engine achieved impressive EPA ratings of 23 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway when equipped with rear-wheel drive. If you opt for all-wheel drive, the numbers are slightly lower at 21 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. The E450 model, which packs more power, matches the efficiency of its counterpart with ratings of up to 23 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway. Of course, these figures are based on EPA tests, and we’re eager to conduct our own real-world evaluation by putting the different powertrains through their paces on our 75-mph highway fuel economy test route. For more detailed information about the E-class’s fuel economy, you can always visit the EPA’s website.

Interior, Comfort, and Cargo

The cabin of the E-class is exquisitely designed with brushed aluminum, beautiful wood accents, and seats that are incredibly comfortable. All models come with customizable ambient interior lighting, heated front seats, a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, and memory settings for the driver’s and front passenger seat. If you’re looking for extra features, you might consider adding a head-up display, massaging front seats, a panoramic sunroof, or ventilated front-seat cushions. While the trunk may not be as spacious as some competitors, the E-class makes up for it with ample interior cubby storage.

Lowering the back seats creates extra room for carrying stuff, but they don’t fold all the way down, so it can be a bit of a hassle to load heavy things. Despite that, we were able to fit 18 of our carry-on suitcases in the sedan when we folded the rear seats. The coupe and convertible models both have a trunk that can hold 10 cubic feet of stuff, but when the top is down on the convertible, the available space gets significantly smaller. We could only fit two carry-on suitcases in the trunk with the top down, but the coupe could hold five.